


Better way

by Lacerta



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Daemons, Asta knows best, Couch Cuddles, Daemons, Getting Together, Lonely Steve Rogers, M/M, Touch-Starved
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-12 23:46:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,447
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29268945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lacerta/pseuds/Lacerta
Summary: He used to dream about having his own room when he was a kid, but this? It’s too much space for a single person. Neither Steve nor Asta know what to do with it so they hang around the communal areas whenever possible.“This modern privacy feels too much like loneliness,” Asta remarks as they lie on their too-wide, too-soft bed.Steve is used to sharing a bed with his mother and later Bucky to get through the cold winter but hasn't had anyone to share with in a long time. His daemon decides to fix this.
Relationships: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Comments: 8
Kudos: 63
Collections: POTS (18+) Stony Stocking 2020





	Better way

**Author's Note:**

  * For [only_more_love](https://archiveofourown.org/users/only_more_love/gifts).
  * In response to a prompt by [only_more_love](https://archiveofourown.org/users/only_more_love/pseuds/only_more_love) in the [stony_stocking_2020](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/stony_stocking_2020) collection. 



> **Prompt:**  
>  Steve is used to sharing a bed with his mother and later Bucky to get through the cold winter but hasn't had anyone to share with in a long time. His daemon decides to fix this.
> 
> I really love all daemon!AUs, it was really fun to write! I hope you enjoy what I cooked up for you, onlymorelove!
> 
> Quick rundown on daemon and forms! You can skip this bit if you want a surprise. c:
> 
> • Steve's daemon is Anastasia (which means 'resurrection'), but he shortens it to Asta ('star'). She's a wolfdog, at first a wolf & GSD mix, similar to a Saarloos wolfdog. When sickly, she would've looked very much like an mutt. She resettles to an almost white wolf & Malamute mix.  
> • Tony's daemon is Caprice (name of Italian origins, means 'whimsical'). He used to call her Cap when they were little, but it felt too childish when he had to grow up too quickly. They started using the nickname again after they met Steve to piss him off. She settled as a rhesus macaque (a capuchin monkey was tempting but... too much 'cap' might be too much!).
> 
> (Unbeta'd, all mistakes are mine.)

When SHIELD got Steve out of ice, they introduced him to a new, confusing world of the future. There was very little that looked familiar: not New York, not even Brooklyn, not SHIELD facilities, not the people around him. Not even Steve’s own daemon.

It’s what hit him the most when he woke up. He could never forget the moment he realised they had to crash the plane: he remembers looking at the ice that was closing in fast, the calm that came when they both made peace with their decision, and Asta shifting one last time before the crash. It felt right, back then. Appropriate.

Now it mostly feels strange. He keeps turning to her, expecting to see her lanky, mutt-like form, and the thick, almost white fur still takes him by surprise. Asta’s still a wolfdog; crashing a plane didn’t change Steve’s soul  _ entirely, _ but it left a visible mark on her. He can’t say if he misses her sable colouring, but it’s another unfamiliar piece of this foreign time.

After he woke up, he was introduced to one more new concept: privacy.

It’s not that Steve doesn’t understand the meaning of the word; he’s old but not dumb. It’s that he never used to get the level of privacy the 21st century provides. The reporters swarm him at every opportunity, sure, and the number of news and gossip outlets is overwhelming, but being a national symbol is nothing new to Steve. Asta’s and his life’s belonged to the public since he took the serum, and even before that they were used to living in close-quarters with a nosy Brooklyn community. What’s surprising is that nowadays people get offended in their stead and defend their right to keep things private. It’s surprisingly nice, even if not strictly necessary.

There are downsides to it, as well. Having shared space with his Ma first, then Bucky, then the Howling Commandos, in this foreign future Steve feels almost isolated. He’s reminded of it by the minute details he’d never paid attention to before the ice.

The walls are thick everywhere, even at the SHIELD quarters where they’d stayed before Tony invited them to live in the Tower; so different from the wartime barracks. Even with his enhanced hearing, Steve has to strain his ears to hear his neighbours moving around. At the Tower it’s almost impossible. He has his own  _ apartment,  _ and that still feels insane. He used to dream about having his own room when he was a kid, but this? It’s too much space for a single person. Neither Steve nor Asta know what to do with it so they hang around the communal areas whenever possible.

“This modern privacy feels too much like loneliness,” Asta remarks as they lie on their too-wide, too-soft bed.

Steve hums in response. She has put into words something they’ve been feeling since Steve woke up. As a man out of time, he feels unmoored in the future, struggling to find a sense of connection– and he knows Asta feels it just as strongly.

He reaches for her; sometimes the comfort of having each other is enough to hope the next day will be better, and to fall asleep. Steve doesn’t dare to imagine how Anastasia felt when Steve was frozen and she was not, but the thought always makes him want to hug her fluffy form even tighter.

This time Asta wiggles free out of his grasp and leaps down on the floor.

Whatever she’s planning, Steve’s tired, he’d very much like to sleep and he shoves his irritation at her through their bond. Asta scoffs at him and takes a step towards the door. The sound of her paws on the floor echoes in the almost empty apartment.

“Come back here, As, we’re not doing this now.” Steve opens one eye to scorn at his daemon, but the effect is lost because she’s not even looking at him.

“We’re not doing  _ that _ either.” Asta glances back and gestures with her snout at the bed they both detest. “It’s not working. I hate it. There must be a better way. Let’s go find it.”

She trots to the door and sits down to wait for him. She’s patient; she must’ve gotten all the patience they were dealt for the two of them because Steve’s short fuse is a complete opposite to that, even if it’s oftentimes countered by his stubbornness and spite.

He could stay in bed, trying (and failing) to fall asleep on his own, but he can sense that Asta is set to go, even without him if he doesn’t relent, and that would break Steve’s heart. After the ice forced them away, they’re technically separated. But when SHIELD medics tried to force them away to test their pull, Asta lost it, going as far as hurting the doctor’s daemon in the process. She  _ hates _ leaving him alone, or, as Steve suspects, she hates being on her own.

So, with a groan that makes it ever clearer what he thinks of the idea, he gets up and joins her.

“Where are we going?”

Asta looks smug. “To the man who always finds the better way.”

***

The music is loud, as usual, when they enter the workshop. They stop in the doorway and Steve’s suddenly aware of his worn-out pajamas and bare feet. Asta rolls his eyes at him and swats his legs with her tail. She’s right. With Tony and Caprice around, they always feel safe. It’s silly to focus on his insecurities.

Caprice notices them first. She waves her paws and JARVIS turns down the volume to a more bearable level.

“What are you doing, Cap?! Why are you–” Tony startles and turns to his daemon when the music quietens, and when he sees Steve and Asta, he does a double take. “Oh,  _ Cap_!”

Steve chuckles at the nickname. It used to irritate him when Tony called him that with the purpose of causing confusion, but they both have grown since. Now it’s kinda endearing that even after the nickname stopped affecting Steve, Tony keeps using it, calling Steve with the same endearment as his own soul.

He can feel Asta’s pointed glare through his bond but it still takes him a few more seconds to grasp the implication of what he’s just thought.

_ Oh. _

“How can I help you, Steve?” Tony asks, standing up from his desk. Steve can’t decipher what he’s working on. It might be Nat’s Widow Bites or a sentient coffee machine for all he knows, but whatever it is, Tony shouldn’t be working on that with what looks like zero sleep in the last couple of days.

“We can’t sleep,” Asta offers, way calmer than Steve feels after his revelation, as she trots to Caprice’s bench. When she pounces up to rest her front paws next to the macaque daemon, Caprice freezes. It’s not fear, they know. It’s a trait both Tony and his dae share: they never know how to react to physical affection.

“Do you need us to make you drugs? ‘Cause we can do that, the best drugs, we can–”

Asta stops her with a stern jab of her snout. “No,” she says simply, nudging Caprice off the bench. “Come lie down with me.”

Steve and Tony watch their daemons head for the couch. Caprice’s complaints are loud but she’s too eager to let Anastasia lead the way for any of it to be true. Tony just gapes.

“You–? What?” He points to their daemons and stares in question at Steve, who smiles at him and crosses the workshop with a few confident steps.

“I think we should join them,” he suggests. “The couch is big enough for us all, isn’t it?”

Steve wraps his arms around Tony. They waddle sideways towards the couch but he doesn’t want to let go of the man. It’s not graceful, but Tony relaxes in Steve’s embrace almost immediately, and Steve knows it was a right idea. Asta’s proved to be wiser than him yet again. (He knows she can’t hear his exact thoughts but he swears she feels particularly smug through their bond when he comes to that conclusion.)

The couch is barely wide and long enough to fit the four of them, and that means they’re cuddled close. It’s familiar in a way that reminds Steve of a past, but sharing a bed with Tony is different; it anchors Steve in the present.

He hears Tony’s soft snore as he drifts asleep himself, and thinks that it might truly be the better way they came here looking for– or maybe the best way they didn’t even know they could find.


End file.
